After doing what the French do so well and taking a long holiday (well a long blog holiday). It’s the back to school/work or as the French call it the ‘rentrée‘ (transl. return) which means I’ve been doing some serious cookstorming, testing out recipes for new classes, dinners and culinary events.

After doing some pie research yesterday (thanks for the tweets) I decided to get down to some pie action.  A while ago I had read an uk food trend report that said pies are hot stuff with brands like Pieminster and Delisanté making stylish hip pies for Selfridges, Waitrose and other big retailers. Pies have always been a staple dish in the English diet and even more so in the American’s with songs,  films and places like this. The French are yet to catch on (they prefer their tartes) although I know one place in Paris which makes a mean fruit pie (I sometimes make some there too)

I hit the market in the morning. My favourite fruit & veg guy (he’s got great produce and is also cute) was back from holiday which I was super happy about. He had a lovely pumpkin which I just had to have a piece of, along with some super sweet tiny mirabelle plums which by the time I got home had all somehow disappeared. Way too easy to pop into your mouth!

After baking 4 different cakes for my birthday on Friday I definetly needed to balance things out with something savoury. So a sweet pumpkin pie (if you’ve got a good recipe, send it my way!) was not gonna happen. Plus I’m not a big fan of sweet pumpkin pie.

I like roasting pumpkin and eating hot with olive oil or cold tossed with some baby spinach, pine nuts and a tahini dressing or in a curry. So I decided to roast some potatoes and pumpkin with some curry spices and popping that into a pie. It reminded me a little of the curry puffs my mum used to make. MMMMMmmmmmmm yum!

Spiced Pumpkin Potato Pie

4 small pies

700g diced pumpkin
300g diced potatoes
4 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp ground paprika
2 tbsp ground curry powder (I used a rendang spice mix which has ground lemongrass)
3 pinches of salt
Sesame seeds for garnish
1 egg for eggwash

Preheat the oven 180°c/350°f. Mix together the spices, salt and oil with the potatoes and pumpkin. Put into a roasting tray. Roast for 30-40minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Leave to cool slightly.

Shortcrust pastry

170g flour
100g butter (very cold, cut into cubes)
1 tsp salt
1 egg

For the shortcrust pastry:
1. Sablage
Mix flour and salt add cubed butters. Rub flour mixture and butter together to create a breadcrumb texture. Make sure to work quickly. Add egg. Mix slightly.

2. Frasage
Turn out mixture onto clean surface (preferably a cool marble surface). Using the palm of your hand. Push a small amount of the mixture about 20cm along the surface of the table. Do this with all the dough. Repeat once or twice until the mixture has come together.

Chill dough for 30mins. Preheat oven 180°c/350°f.

Roll out to knife edge thickness and line already greased and floured tins. Use a round cookie cutter to cut out the dough for the tins. Prick the base and then fill with potato and pumpkin. Eggwash the edge of the pastry and cut a second (smaller round) for the top. Make sure to make a small hole in the top for the steam. Eggwash the top and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top and bottom of pie is golden brown. Eat warm or cold.

No, I’m not referring to the band 3T from the nineties, although it would be quite fitting with the whole MJ saga going on. More to do with the fact the number 3 has been cropping up quite a lot recently.

I’m on the last leg of big events before the summer break with my debut on the Paris scene this Monday at the Chacha. After getting back from London with a great mash up dinner behind me and the 500 biscuits for the school of life event aswell. I was ready for a break, not a third event. Unfortunately that was not going to be an option. Recipes had to be tested and tasted for the dinner. A dj, photographer and assistants had to be found. PR and marketing malarky to do. Plus I’ve been running around all the vintage stores and markets looking for the perfect Jackie outfits for the three Kennedy hostesses.

———————–

Dust off your blonde wig, your Jackie 0 sunglasses or your ‘too cool for school’ J.F.K. sixties suit. Miss Khoo is taking over the Chacha for the tastiest event in town.
For Monday 13th July Rachel Khoo has created a 3 course dinner and a Kennedy cocktail to tantalize your tastebuds. Top that all off with a cupcake pimping session and some swinging sixties & fifties sounds spun by DJ Sylvania. The whole of Paris will be there and who knows maybe the Kennedy’s might pop by.

40€ Cocktail + 3 course dinner (starter + main + dessert/cupcake session)

RSVP chacha@chachaclub.fr

———————-

Enlevez vos lunettes de soleil Jackie O et vos costumes JFK années 60. Rachel Khoo va envahir le ChaCha pour la soirée le plus KHOOl de Paris.

Lundi 13 juillet, Mademoiselle Khoo va nous partager ses recettes chic et délicieuses lors d’un dîner – entrée, plat, dessert – et un “Kennedy cocktail” pour réveiller vos papilles. Tout ça avant un “cupcake pimping session” ou vous pouvez décorez vos propres cupcakes, le tout accompagné des sons des années 50 et 60 par DJ Sylvania.

Le tout Paris sera là, et, qui sait, même les Kennedys eux-même vont peut-être y faire un petit tour nous joindre.

40€ Cocktail + dîner [entrée, plat, dessert/ cupcakes]

RSVP  chacha@chachaclub.fr – réservation obligatoire

————————-

Tuesday night I invited the lovely ladies who will be assisting me on Monday night for a dress rehearsal. I found myself styling clothes, hats and hair instead of food.  For dinner I rustled up this tart which just involved me seeing what I had in my fridge.  I was loosely inspired by what I had read in the Guardian at the weekend. And it so happened that the filling used three types of vegetables: carrots, beetroots and red onions. I managed to get these amazing red onions which were a cross between a large spring onion and a red one which were perfect for this tart.

I will let those of you who are coming this Monday be the judge whether I should stick to my day job up or whether I might have a new career as a fashion stylist

3T Tarte (three tones tarte)

10 carrots, peeled and roughly sliced into sticks
3 beetroots (raw not the cooked ones), peeled and chopped roughly
3 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped into wedges or 6 red onions type spring onion
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
Olive oil
salt & pepper
Handful of fresh parsley

1 packet of good quality puff pastry (yes, I do cheat. Can’t be a slave to your kitchen all the time)

Preheat the oven to 180°c. Mix together all the vegetables and garlic in a roasting tray. Season and drizzle generously with olive oil. Roast until tender (about 40minutes). Roll out the puff pastry and line the tart. Tip all the vegetables into the tart and bake for a further 30 minutes or until the puff pastry is puffed up. To serve drizzle with a little more olive oil and garnish with parsley. You could also crumble some feta or goat’s cheese on top to.

Pies, pies and more pies were on plates for a big dinner this Sunday. Why pies you may ask? Well, I like to stay true to my London roots and show those Parisians that the English know a thing or two about cooking   Plus my friend who was allowing me to cause some ‘khooking’ carnage in his kitchen likes to spin a few tunes on the old decks. So I came up with the idea of doing a “Pie & mash up”. Me ‘khooking’ up some tasty pies and him doing a musical ‘mash up’.

Pies traditionally come with mash potatoes. Some London caffs still do the real deal at a bargain price £3. Normally meat filled with a short crust or puff pastry lid served with “liquor” (no, not alcohol – although the Brits do have a soft spot for it) a.k.a. gravy/sauce plus a nice dollop of mash potatoes. Cooking for large amount of people can be a bit daunting especially when you don’t know everyone’s taste. But everyone seemed to be happy (plates were scraped clean) with a crazy  (=sweet potato, parsley and plain mash topping) cottage pie and this veggie pie. I had my ‘khooking’ crew helping me out too. Great fun bossing two boys around the kitchen. And another friend rocked up with a delish chicken pie. Thanks guys!

I found the recipe for the veggie pie on BBC Good Food website. It all sounded very yummy regardless of the long list of ingredients. I left a few things out, added a few of my own touches et voilà…

Spiced Veggie pie (makes 2×20cm pies)
Adapted from this

1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika , plus extra for dusting
150ml/¼ pint olive oil (a little extra for frying the shallots and squash)
900g squash , peeled and cut into small chunks (about 2cm)
12 shallots , finely sliced
2cm/1½ in piece root ginger , finely grated
140g whole blanched almonds
140g shelled pistachios
140g pine nuts
2 tbsp clear honey
500g pack fresh spinach (washed and stalks removed, if large)
400g can chickpeas , drained and rinsed
1 garlic clove
1 tsp ground cumin
1 juice of one lemon
200g butter
16 large sheets of filo pastry

Harissa yoghurt sauce

200g carton Greek yogurt
3 large sprigs mint , leaves chopped
2-3 tsp harissa spice mix (I got mine from the Spice shop off Portobello road)

Preheat the oven to fan 180C/ conventional 200C/gas 6. Mix in the paprika, cumin, coriander, 1⁄2 tsp salt and 4 tbsp oil. Tip the squash into a roasting tin, pour over the spiced oil and toss. Roast for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp of oil in a frying pan, add the shallots  and ginger. Cook until they start to brown. Stir in the 100g each almonds, pine nuts and pistachios. When brown, add 2 tbsp honey, and the spinach so it wilts. Take off the heat and stir into the squash, when it comes out of the oven. Set aside.
In a food processor, whizz the chickpeas with the garlic, cumin, remaining oil, lemon juice, 2 tbsp water and salt and pepper to make houmous.
Melt the butter in a small pan. Put a loose-bottomed 20cm quiche tin on a baking sheet and brush with some butter. Keeping the filo covered with a damp cloth so it doesn’t dry out. You can either follow these directions and make one massive pie. Or do my version: which is to layer 6 sheets. Make sure to butter each sheet really well otherwise it will unstick while baking.
Spread half of the  houmous on the bottom, pile half the squash mixture in the centre of the pastry. Butter two sheets of filo pastry together and place on the top to cover. Press the edges together to make sure they stick.  Brush carefully with more butter. Repeat the same procedure for the second pie.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until crisp and golden. Just before the pie is ready, reheat any remaining butter in the pan, tip in the rest of the nuts and fry until golden. Sprinkle the nuts over the pie. Serve with Harissa yogurt sauce (mix the yogurt, harissa and mint together. Taste and season if needed) and salad (optional).

Many thanks to TF for taking the photos.